Gourmet Cells
Gourmet Cells(グルメ細胞, Gurume Saibō) are special, highly adaptive cells first discovered and harvested from Gourmet Jellyfish by the "Gourmet God" Acacia 605 years ago. The cells have extreme regenerative and strength-enhancing qualities, such that when implanted into the cells of another living thing they can enhance it in various ways. When gourmet cells are implanted into an ingredient, for instance, its flavor improves drastically, though it may become more powerful and difficult to capture as well. When a human successfully adapts Gourmet Cells into their body they gain overwhelming life force and power. Enhancements common to many implantees include extreme physical strength, speed, and general athleticism; incredible stamina and endurance; enhanced senses; and the ability to project a terrifying 'Intimidation' aura. As long as calories are available, the cells also grant incredible regenerative power. This amazing vitality granted to a gourmet cell user is often reflected in their appearance, as the vast majority of the (mostly male) users possess incredibly muscular physiques. A few, such as Jirou, Mansam, and Chin Chinchin are even capable of releasing more of their power to become truly monstrous giants of intimidating muscle. More exotic enhancements are also possible through gourmet cells, however. They can physically mutate the user to generate a wide variety of outright inhuman abilities or grant superhuman senses. Examples include: Sunny's ultra-sensitive prehensile hair; Coco's poison generation, incredible vision, and advanced use of synaesthesia; Tommyrod's compound eyes and remote control of limbs through insect ganglia; and Midora's use of blending. Gourmet cells also seem to increase the compatibilty and effectiveness of transplants (as in the case of Grinpatch's multiple arms and Elg's Heraku body) and symbiotic relationships between organisms (as with Tommyrod and his internally-bred army of insects). An individual's gourmet cells 'evolve' when they consume delicious foods that suit them and the 'tastes' of the cells; this enhances the strength of the user and their abilities. They can also evolve as a response to harsh new environments, instantly creating adaptations which allow the user to survive. Training one's gourmet cells to adapt to a variety of such environments is an integral part of training to survive in the Gourmet World. Because of the incredible and wide-ranging abilities of gourmet cells, and in particular their ability to increase fighting strength, many prominent bishokuya, saiseiya, chefs, IGO members, and even criminals have them. Many of these, such as the members of the Bishokukai, seek out new and rare ingredients specifically to increase their fighting strength. The strongest of beasts summon Appetite Energy. Implanting gourmet cells into the body carries risks, however. If an individual is not compatible with the cells at the implantation stage they may gain no power, or even die. Gourmet cells also have extremely high energy demands, so users must frequently consume large amounts of delicious food, lest the cells begin uncontrollably devouring the their body at the cellular level. So far only Bishokuya Toriko, Bishokukai sous-chef Starjun and the boss of the Bishokukai Midora are the only ones stated to have been born with gourmet cells, presumably avoiding some of the drawbacks faced by implantees. The greatest advantage afforded by Gourmet Cells is the Appetite Energy they manifest internally. Versatile and highly powerful, mighty predators can externalize this energy by drawing out their overwhelming desire to devour prey. The energy can then be used to generate a variety of powerful effects. The ability to manipulate appetite energy is not an automatic consequence of Gourmet Cell infusion, however. Even very powerful individuals with strong Gourmet Cells are only able to, at best, semi-conciously manifest a degree of appetite energy on the instinctual level. Truly mastering the energy's incredible power requires its conscious manipulation and a taxing degree of mental control. While all of these qualities of Gourmet Cells make them extremely powerful and useful, it has been shown that they do have limitations. Their strength and regeneration-enhancing qualities are dependent on the user's calorie intake and even their mental state and fortitude. Mental training in disciplines such as Food Honor can make a vast difference in how effectively and efficiently the cells expend energy. Sufficiently powerful techniques can also simply exceed the powers of an individual's gourmet cells, such as when Elg's cells (boosted in regenerative power through his fusion with the Heraku, no less) were nonetheless overwhelmed by Buranchi's continuous electrical attacks. Toriko's Gourmet Cells "flew out"The most mysterious aspect of gourmet cells so far introduced is their ability to "fly out" or "bloom" and somehow physically manifest in the form of the user's Intimidation spirit, or to manifest elements of the spirit on the body of the user. This ability is apparently triggered after a user consciously discovers how to manipulate Appetite Energy, and is pushed into a life-or-death struggle. This ability seems to suggest that the Intimidation spirit is in fact a sentient manifestation of the user's Gourmet Cells, rather than a mere projection of fighting spirit. When they began to "emerge", both Sunny and Toriko's Intimidation forms spoke to them, and Sunny seemingly had to fight his form for control of the Satan Hair ability. Toriko's hanya demon offered him advice while he was unconscious, and itself emerged at a crucial moment, summoning its upper torso over Toriko's broken body, to deliver a deadly blow to Starjun. Starjun's own gourmet cells later manifested in the form of a a third eye on his forehead, mirroring the single eye of his cyclopic Intimidation. Although how the process works is still unclear, Toriko's demon and Jirou have both stated that consuming Acacia's Full Course grants perfect control of one's Gourmet Cells, apparently including this mysterious ability. According to Chichi, these manifestations that are known as Appetite Devils. Whenever a person with Gourmet Cells approach an ingredient that is beyond what they can comprehend, these devils go berserk, manifesting themselves outside of their user's body and completely taking control as Chichi stated that before the Four Heavenly Kings could even make a judgement as to what ingredient was presented to them, the devils have already gone wild and manifested themselves. While it has not yet been determined in the Canon, for Fanon, each bearer of Gourmet cells have been shown to carry a secondary ability aside from their first, example of Toriko's Kugi punch despite him having his knife and fork. Until further explained, the secondary skills will only count to the canon characters, unless Gourmet Cells are further explained otherwise. When it is explained or if the admins decide to try and give an explanation, we will post a blog to give more detail. Known Users and Attributes Canon {|width="100%" style="border:1px #bbb outset; overflow:hidden; text-align:center;" border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" |- |style="margin:auto; ; ; background:Black"|'Bearer' |style="margin:auto; ; ; background:black"|'Skill' |style="margin:auto; ; ; background:black"|'Secondary Skill' |- |'Toriko' |'Appetite Energy Construct' |'Sense of Smell' |- |'Coco' |'Poison Manipulation' |'Electromagnetic sensing' |- |'Sunny' |'Hair Manipulation' |'Sensory' |- |'Zebra' |'Sound Manipulation' |'Exceptional Hearing' |- |'Komatsu' |'Enhanced Cooking' |'N/A' Category:Canon to Fanon Category:Important Term